Cyclones End Fall with Singles Wins in Houston

HOUSTON, Texas- The Iowa State tennis team finished its fall campaign on Sunday with singles wins from all four Cyclones at the Cougar Classic.

Ksenia Pronina defeated Maria Jose Cardona of Kansas State, 6-2, 1-6, 10-5. The junior took third place in her bracket after losing on Saturday to Arkansas’ Shannon Hudson.

Freshman Samantha Budai also finished third in her bracket after taking down Monica Pieratt from Texas State, 6-3, 6-3. Budai came back after a loss to Houston’s Maria Cardenas on Saturday.

Senior Emma Waites joined Pronina and Budai, taking third place in her bracket as well. Waites defeated Stephen F. Austin’s Rachel Pierce, 6-4, 6-1. The Milton, Ga. native took the win after Saturday’s play ended in a loss against NSU’s Kateryna Piatakova.

Sophomore Ana Gasparovic came back with a win to conquer the consolation round of her bracket. After a tough first-day loss, Gasparovic was the only Cyclone with a singles win on Saturday. The Croatian came out on top in a tough match against Stephen F. Austin’s Valeria Terentyava, 6-3, 6-7(0), 10-6.

Waites and Pronina also came back in doubles on Sunday with a consolation win, defeating Texas State’s duo of Berenice VandenBergh and Eva Dench, 8-5.

The Cyclones will be back at in the spring season, taking on Florida Gulf Coast on January 17 in Fort Myers, Fla.